The time has come - Catha's Seat installation work starts 1st April 2014

It's now just over a year and half ago since I was wondering how I could use my trip to Istanbul to raise funds to promote sustainable transport and my Mum's work when I spoke with Sheila Webb and she introduced me to the idea of installing seating with dedicated cycle parking on Route 18. 

So much has happened in that time - we have raised £10,000, built a group of 62 investors and many more followers, secured three Local Authority Grants with the fantastic support of the local Parish Councils and Councillors, kindly been granted permission to use the land, wrestled with design decisions, been featured in the local newspaper, had invaluable assistance from Colin Finch on the Kent County Council Public Rights of Way team and our chosen contractor ARC Creative Design, and been shortlisted for a PEA award ..... amongst many other things. 

Tomorrow, 1st April (weather permitting!), installation starts on Catha's Seat and is expected to be completed by the end of the week. I will be on site on Wednesday and Thursday so it would be great to see you if you are in the area or cycling by on Route 18. If you do drop by when I'm not there please note that whilst I'm sure Chris and his installation team from ARC Creative Design may be happy to have a brief chinwag they have a busy schedule to complete within their window of opportunity.

Look forward to seeing you at Catha's Seat soon! Don't forget to mark the 3rd May launch date in your diary as well.... 

According to Eliza .gifs are all the rage on the blogs these days. This is my attempt that starts with the last photo I have pre installation (taken on Sunday morning 30th March 2014)

gif maker online

Catha's Seat Construction Underway

In the long drought of news since the last post (my apologies) there's been a hive of activity on Catha's Seat. The fundraising has been completed, the order has been placed and construction has started. We'll catch up with the details at a later stage but for the moment I want to do two things

Firstly... make sure that the launch date is firmly in your calendars (Saturday 3rd May):

We are planning something special so start oiling your chains and pumping your tyres. We will be launching from Wye but I understand that Spokes are also looking to run a ride from Canterbury, which you can join if you are a Spokes member http://www.spokeseastkent.org.uk/events.php . Also, if you prefer to walk - it's around 5 miles from Wye or 1 mile from Chilham.

The main event up at Catha's Seat is shaping up for around 1-2.30pm.

Secondly... show you some pictures of construction:

On Tuesday we took a visit to the company constructing and installing the seats, ARC Creative Design. ARC specialise in heritage installations and were behind Sheila's Crichton Family Seat near Canterbury, so were the ideal choice for the project.

Photos and comments below:

Jason the carpenter gets comfortable on some solid oak! Don't worry - it's not really going to be that high off the ground - the feet stick ~400mm into the ground so it's good and secure.

Keegan Senior tests out his Sunday newspaper reading position.

The arms give a nice comfort - allowing you to relax into the corners, and essential support for expansive gestures!

Chris from ARC shows there's plenty of room on the seats, which are designed to comfortably seat a small family (two adults and a child).

Arm design decisions were hotly debated by the team - honesty versus aesthetics. A slightly rounded shape got the final approval.

Multi Purpose Recreational Area - bike rack, yoga mat, picnic spot...

Catha's Seat Shortlisted for a PEA Award

Catha's Seat has been shortlisted for a PEA award under the Responsible Travel Category!!! http://www.peaawards.co.uk/2013-shortlisted-nominees/ 

The PEA or People and Environmental Awareness awards are designed to recognise people and celebrate their contributions to the green agenda.

In association with GREEN Magazine, their glamorous green carpet awards ceremony honours those who have demonstrated the importance of sustainability. 

Judges include green entrepreneurs and sustainability leads within organisations such as Mott MacDonald, National Geographic and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I hadn't even considered being shortlisted for an award was a possibility but one of my close friends, Karen, just nominated us off her own back and we were shortlisted by the judges! Hopefully this will bring even more publicity & awareness to the hard work that has gone into Route 18 and the joys of cycling in Kent.

Image - copyright the PEA awards

Many thanks to Karen for nominating us and to the judges for shortlisting us. The awards will be held on the 26th November so please keep your fingers and toes crossed for the win!

In other news, the thermometer is nearly at the £10,000 mark however, It's not too late to get involved and donate! Any additional funds over the target will go into a revolving Catha's Seat fund for maintenance of the seats and promotion of cycling on Route 18. 

Catha's Seat - Fresh off the press in the Kentish Express!

News fresh off the press this morning as Catha's Seat was featured in the Kentish Express, our local paper. If you are in the area, get down to the shops and get a copy while they are still hot!

Many, many thanks to reporter James Scott, and the Kent Messenger (KM) Group, for covering our story.

Cutting from page 33 of the Kentish Express published 26/09/2013.
Used with permission from the KM Group.

Councillor Wickham gets behind Catha's Seat and funding breaks £8,000 barrier

The funding thermometer has smashed through the £8,000 mark with your donations!! This is fantastic; thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. 

This leaves less than £2,000 left to raise, on which front there is more positive news we can share. Following a letter I sent to Andrew Wickham, Kent County Council (KCC) Councillor for Ashford Rural East, he has got right behind the project and is looking to support the fundraising from his KCC Member's Community Grant Scheme. Earlier this week it was confirmed that he is able to contribute £1,000 towards the installation of Catha's Seat.

When speaking with Councillor Wickham I was delighted to hear that he has been fully supporting the development of the new "traffic free" section of Route 18. He shares our aim to get as many people as possible out and using these facilities for enjoyment, wellbeing and safe sustainable transport. 

More than just helping funding, having the support of influential organisations and individuals such as KCC and Councillor Wickham is very important for a community project - it validates the need and develops the reach it can achieve - so this is a very exciting development.

Andrew Wickham, Kent County Council Councillor for Ashford Rural East, has got behind the Catha's Seat project.

Councillor Wickham added the following kind comments in his email to me....

"Thank you for your letter with details about your well thought out project to provide a seat along Route 18 near Chilham. I am minded to support this project"

"Good luck with the remainder of your fundraising, I am sure Catha would be proud."

All of us at Catha's Seat would like to express our thanks to Councillor Wickham and to KCC funding officer Annette Haigh for their support.

Godmersham Parish Council give support to Catha's Seat

I was treated to a warm welcome at Godmersham Parish Council's meeting on Tuesday night in their brand spanking new village hall. This has been outfitted with the latest green technology; solar PV and heat pumps, but more importantly a set of freshly installed bike racks where I could park up dad's bike after a twilight ride over from Wye! 

It was fantastic to hear so many positive comments and suggestions regarding the new cycle route and Catha's Seat. I am delighted that the PC have chosen to support the project and our forthcoming bid to the Ashford Borough Council Single Grants Gateway Scheme.

From the short window I saw of the meeting Godmersham PC are dedicated to continuously improving their Parish for the benefit of their residents.

In the board room - Godmersham Parish Council consider and choose to support the Catha's Seat Project

Godmersham PC's Chair, Caroline Spencer, wrote the following comments on behalf of the Council in support of Catha's Seat:

"In our view, Catha's Seat will be a major attraction: a delightful destination to which people can walk or cycle along the traffic-free section from Eggarton Lane, or a stopping point along the way for those passing through.  This can only improve our quality of life as our health and well-being is enhanced through more exercise, and our enjoyment of the countryside improves.

We are excited about the possibility of using Catha's Seat for community events, and you will recall last night that we were beginning to think of ways in which the Council could assist in planning and resourcing such occasions.  In a community such as ours which is short on public facilities, we have learned to make our own entertainment, and are therefore very enthusiastic about a new, outdoor facility such as Catha's Seat to use as a focus."

I would like to express my thanks to Caroline and the members of the Parish Council for allowing me to speak at their meeting and for their support. We look forward to progressing some exciting community events with them up at Catha's Seat in the years to come.

Catha's Seat - some history on the campaigning work of Catharine Keegan

I thought I would share an excerpt from some of the letters we've been sending out to build support for the project. This brings together juicy research I found out about mum's campaigning from conversations with Catherine Hughes, Sue Powell and dad. Seems like she made quite a stir locally.....

Catharine Keegan (Gilmour) was a particularly active member of the community within Ashford Borough and in the village of Wye. As an architect and planner, she dedicated a considerable amount of her time to local planning issues and sustainable transport initiatives. She was instrumental in the early work on Local Agenda 21 and the Wye Village Design Statement, the first Community produced Village Design Statement in the Borough, which is dedicated to her. 

She also made a number of representations to the Ashford Borough Local Plan on cycling and planning matters, which according to Catherine Hughes, the programme officer with ABC at the time, were considered a “benchmark” of good written representations by the Inspectors examining the Local Plan. In fact, her work was admired to the extent that she is - uniquely for a document of this type - mentioned in the introduction to the Inspector’s Report into the Ashford Local Plan 2000:

• “31. Although I do not usually identify any particular individual that has taken part in the Inquiry process, I do wish to record my appreciation to one person. It has come to my attention that Catharine Gilmore [Gilmour] who represented a number of objectors at the Inquiry and in written representations, died unexpectedly earlier last year. Although I may not have agreed with all of her representations, I found her professional approach to be of the highest standard and presented in a friendly and efficient manner.”

Another picture from the archives - Mum in action surveying at Ashford International Station (photo courtesy of Sheila Webb)